Protests over Ferguson ruling spread across US

VIOLENCEA police officer watches as a building burns after it was set on fire during rioting following the grand jury announcement in the Michael Brown case on Tuesday in Ferguson, Missouri. AFP PHOTO

NEW YORK: Protests spread across the United States late on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) over the explosive grand jury decision in Missouri against indicting a white cop who shot dead an unarmed black teen.

Angry people took to the streets from Seattle out west to Chicago in the middle and New York, the nation’s largest city, as the hotspot town of Ferguson, Missouri—where the decision was rendered—roiled with rioting.

In Ferguson, twelve buildings ablaze according to police which also claimed they have come under heavy gunfire.

Not long after President Barack Obama appealed for calm over the hotly awaited ruling in Missouri in the case of slain teen Michael Brown by white policeman Darren Wilson, several hundred people gathered in front of the White House.

That demonstration was peaceful, unlike violence that broke out in Ferguson itself in which a police car was torched, stores were looted and police fired tear gas to disperse angry black demonstrators.

The rally outside the White House dispersed after midnight but demonstrators headed elsewhere, possibly toward the US Capitol, the seat of Congress, Agence France-Presse correspondents observed.

In New York City’s Times Square, several hundred people rallied carrying banners protesting “police tyranny.” Others had slogans saying “racism kills” and “no justice, no peace.”

Some people likened police to the white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan.

The police presence in New York City was heavy. A helicopter flew overhead. Another rally was held in the city’s Union Square.

New York City police chief Bill Bratton made an appearance at the Big Apple’s signature crossroads Times Square, where someone splashed him in the face with a red liquid.